February 2014 Hydraulics & Pneumatics

Editor's Page

Years ago I browsed through an annual report from Philip Morris Tobacco Co. It had all the usual pretty pictures, including a shot of the board of directors standing around a long conference table. This was nothing unusual, but each member was holding a cigarette and had an ashtray in front of him or her. I doubt that every board member smoked, but they had to wear their game faces for the annual report photo....More

Features

Every three years the fluid-power community convenes in Las Vegas for the IFPE show, conference and related events. IFPE 2014 — International Exposition for Power Transmission is set to be the largest yet. The exposition and technical conference highlights fluid power, power transmission, and motion control....More

Anyone who uses compressed air will, at some point, find liquid water in the air distribution system. This can be anything from a nuisance to a serious problem, depending on the application. For example, if water might corrode equipment or introduce bacteria, removing it is critical....More

The Work Truck Show is scheduled for March 5-7 in Indianapolis, in conjunction with the 50th annual NTEA Convention. The show features new products, offers training sessions, and provides access to technical engineering representatives from exhibiting companies, including a number of hydraulic and pneumatic suppliers....More

Water was the first fluid ever used as a power transmission medium — the earliest water-hydraulics applications date to 2,000 years ago. Of course, modern water-hydraulic systems differ greatly from historical applications, thanks to an influx of new design, material, and control technologies....More

Situated on the border of Georgia and Florida is the Jim Woodruff Lock and Dam. The dam impounds Lake Seminole, producing hydroelectric power, and its single lock provides navigable access to the Chattahoochee River....More

When hydraulic or pneumatic lines connect to a moving machine component, there are several ways to accommodate the motion. While the easiest is to simply allow slack hose, this method can lead to excess flexing, premature hose wear, and damage from pinching or exposure to other hazards. Hose reels are another possibility, but generally they are useful only for single or dual lines and may not accommodate longer travel distances or larger hose sizes easily....More

A new Web site for Airpot Corp., Norwalk, Conn., provides many useful features, including easy-to-search products and frequently asked questions, reflecting more than 50 years of applicable knowledge. Additionally, 3D CAD files of nonstock products can easily be configured with construction requirements tailored to the application and meeting designers’ needs....More

Ideas & Applications

Keeping the work platform of aerial lifts level is a primary safety concern, and LPI inclinometers closely monitor horizontal orientation in one or two axes to close the loop in electrohydraulic positioning controls....More

If you have a wood-burning fireplace or stove, this long, cold winter may have depleted your stockpile of firewood. And if you’re like most fluid-power aficionados, you’ve dreamt of applying your knowledge to build your own hydraulic log splitter....More

The Vacall division of Gradall Industries Inc., New Philadelphia, Ohio, provides superior jetting and vacuum solutions for everything from small, local maintenance — such as street sweeping — to large-scale cleanup efforts — such as the ones that progressed along the New Jersey shoreline in response to Hurricane Sandy....More

What often comes to mind when people hear of demolition work is a giant crane equipped with a wrecking ball. Smaller jobs may use an excavator with grapple attachment to rip structures apart. The debris from these demolition projects must be broken down for disposal or recycling, which is where hydraulic breakers find favor....More

Motion Control

Most motion-control applications are of a critical nature — they must meet accuracy, bandwidth, or some other performance demand. The most sensible and expedient way to design such systems is to use performance requirements as the design goals at the very outset of the design process. The techniques are analytical in nature, so they require mathematical descriptions of all elements of the system. Only then can synthesis and simulation methods be applied to direct the design process toward the end result without undue trial-and-error techniques....More

Troubleshooting Challenge

A company that fabricates oil-field pipes starts with flat steel, rolls it into a round tubular shape, and simultaneously welds the inside and outside surfaces of the joined ends. Tooling removes excess weld material, creating a round pipe that actually looks like seamless pipe. A cutoff station then cuts the pipe coming off the production line to 21-ft lengths....More